Treasuring the Moment
by Stardustdragon123
Summary: *Contains spoilers to Stand Up, the LRIG! up to the end of Ride 60! OC tag is used as Hitoe's friend from Aomori is unnamed in canon.* Reflecting over her friendship with everyone around her and those from the world of Vanguard, Hitoe soon finds herself deeply troubled from things to come. Can a certain fighter help her discover what's important to those around her? Implied AiHi


**Hello everyone! After looking back over Stand Up, the LRIG! in my self-reflection on how I've written the third arc up to the Peeping Analyze sub-arc (as of this story's post date), I felt that I could have maybe added a bit more in regards to the whole mini-arc with Hitoe and Sakuya whilst adding a bit more depth to the former's character which will have an important role in the coming arcs. Now whilst this is techinically and foremost a one-shot (my very first one in all brutal honesty), this short little story if readers of Stand Up, the LRIG! want to can be consider this as somewhat of a... deleted scene of sorts. My rambling aside, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer here.**

* * *

It was full swing in the Uemura Household ever since Hitoe had returned with not just Aichi, Kai and Ruko, but her friend from both childhood and her original home in Aomori, Sakuya. By now, the girl with her black hair tied into a bow of sorts around the back of her head was more than acquainted with the friends that the Selector had made in her 'absence' in Tokyo and after her previous battle, now far more aware of the dangers that were around them in not just the Selector Battles themselves, but the involvement of the Star-vaders and Reverse, as she had previously experienced.

Dwelling back on the subject, Sakuya knew her memories were initially foggy after being freed from that power by both Yuzuki and Hitoe's combined efforts to save her and Midoriko. But after thinking back over what she had said during the battle, in regards to her initial feelings of how she percieved the Selector's departure from Aomori, believing that no one around her except herself would understand her social awkwardness and loneliness, she immediately felt horrible about what she thought and apologized to Hitoe's parents whilst keeping quiet of their involvement in the Selector Battles. To her surprise, they were willing to accept her apology and that they didn't think any less of their friendship because of the letter Hitoe had recieved months ago.

"A... Are you alright, Sakuya?"

Sakuya blinked, realizing that in the midst of her reminiscence of past events, she had not been aware that Hitoe had been standing beside her for the past minute or so, worried about her childhood friend for the moment. In her hand was Yuzuki's card as the red LRIG herself glanced over at the Selector's friend, also concerned for her current state. To their relief though, she smiled as the two of them sat down together on the nearby couch that was behind them before picking up her own card that contained Midoriko, who seemed much happier now that the past had been put behind them.

"We've really been through a lot, haven't we?" Sakuya murmured.

"Yeah," Yuzuki replied "All of us have been through much, some a lot more."

Her last few words took a bit of a somber tone as she reflected how exactly it was that she became an LRIG and looked over to Midoriko, knowing full well that she must have gone through the exact same process to get to where she was now.

"To be honest, I thought I'd never see any of you again," Midoriko spoke "Especially after what happened to Hitoe and... when Photon did you know what to me."

"Even if it was scary... none of it was your fault," said Hitoe "Right now, all of us are back together and I'm really happy for that."

Sakuya nodded in agreement, knowing that her best friend's sentiments were indeed correct. The two girls looked over to the far table where they could see Aichi sharing everything that happened previously with Ruko and Kai, the former of which had almost freaked out in shock when he mentioned Akira in her attempt to attack the two of them and how Hitoe had attempted to intervene rather than fleeing the park as he suggested. The Selector who held the girls of black and white as her LRIGs sighed in relief that none of them were hurt and that they were lucky to save Sakuya as soon as they could afterwards.

"So Ruko was actually your second opponent..." she murmured "You and Midoriko must have been really lucky to find a friend in her."

"Y... yes," replied Hitoe "Then it was Yuzuki, Tama, Hanayo... and after Ruko vanished, it was Kai, some of his friends and... Aichi-kun."

Gazing at the Royal Paladin user who was sitting at the kitchen table with Kai and Ruko, her cheeks went a faint red from just mentioning his name with the honorific attached to it. Looking back to the table in front of the sofa for a brief moment, Sakuya could see that Midoriko was motioning for her to bring both her's and Yuzuki's card up to where they were watching from. The Selector kindly followed her request, bringing both LRIGs up to the top of the sofa where they could see the conversation in front of them taking place.

"To be honest, I didn't exactly believe it when Kai told us about him and the world they came from," Yuzuki said as she looked upon Aichi "But after everything we've all been through since he came here with Ishida, Ren and Leon, I'm really glad he did."

"You said that he's been through Hitoe's sort of thing before, right?" asked Midoriko.

"T... That's right," Hitoe answered before looking down for a moment "Only... he initially got off far worse because of it before meeting Kai."

"Hold on... are you saying...?" asked Sakuya, catching on to what her friend was implying.

"Yeah..." Yuzuki replied "Kai said that when he first met Aichi, he used to be covered in bruises and scrapes. I can't imagine what life would have been like for him if he endured all of that before getting Blaster Blade."

Both the Selector and Midoriko couldn't help but silently gasp, having not expected that Aichi who had been through similar circumstances in regards to Hitoe's social awkwardness would have been bullied in his childhood because of it. All of a sudden, the two of them couldn't help but stomach the thought that if memory loss was harmful enough to their friend as it was when she first had her wish tainted, they couldn't imagine what it would have been like if the situation had escalated to the same depths as what the Royal Paladin user had to endure back then with Akira's first encounter with Hitoe being the closest thing to that.

"Poor guy..." the green LRIG murmured "To think he's smiling now after all that..."

"Well, considering that he went ahead and saved his world twice after that, he's already been through a lot worse," Yuzuki interjected "And don't get me started on whatever it was Ulith did to him."

Hitoe shuddered for a brief instance, knowing that it was a nightmare for Aichi to try and forget about what Ulith did to him previously on 'that' night when she mentally tortured him about the impact of his actions on other Selectors using his own PSY Qualia to do so. Having kept her gaze upon the Royal Paladin user as he smiled gently with his eyes closed, her mood was immediately lifted back up, relieved that he had seemingly gotten over what was shown to him and now back to his cheerful self again.

"I'm really happy all of us are now there for each other," she said "Hopefully together with Ruko, we can free everyone from the Selector Battles, help Aichi and Kai save this Takuto and... then..."

For some reason, she could not bring herself to finish her sentence as realization slowly began to dawn upon her, if their endeavour to put an end to both Mayu's game and whatever other schemes the Star-vaders had in mind was successful. Sakuya having learned everything she needed to know about Aichi and Kai immediately discovered why it was that her childhood friend was now beginning to feel this way after her newfound confidence had seemingly held up until the third portion of her previous resolve.

"They'll have to go back to their own world, won't they?" she murmured.

Hitoe, unable to say a word in her current state, could only nod sombrely in agreement as she looked away from Aichi and back to both her friend and the two LRIGs whose cards were still at the top of the couch. Seeing that their friend was downcast from this fact alone, Yuzuki and Midoriko looked to one another in worry, realizing that if they ever hoped to escape their current situation, this would be something they would have to accept when everything would hopefully go in their favour.

"Well... he did teach her everything he knew on growing in her self-confidence," the red LRIG murmured "Even I can't blame Hitoe for feeling this way now that she thinks about it."

"Still, even I can't help but somewhat object to this," Sakuya replied "If only we could..."

"No..." Hitoe interrupted as she shook her head "It wouldn't be right for him or anyone back there. I can't just..."

The Selector blinked for an instance before suddenly realizing that in her brief moment of thought, she had almost slipped back into the way she had behaved on the day that her friend had left Aomori and when she was trapped in the clutches of Reverse.

"You're right, sorry about that," she spoke as she briefly looked over to Aichi, Kai and Ruko on the table "I know Ruko and I along with our current LRIGs will still be around for you. It's just that the person who helped you get through a lot on your own having to leave after you guys stop this Mayu... it just doesn't feel fair on you."

Hitoe remained silent for a brief moment, taking note of Sakuya's words just now and turning around to sit back down on the couch to recollect her thoughts. As she tried to take the time to regain her composure, she saw both of her parents heading towards the front door before they turned around to face her.

"We're just heading out for a while, so you'll be in charge of your friends," her mother spoke.

"R... right," Hitoe replied, trying her best to immediately muster up a smile to try and hide the discussion that she was having from them "I'll lock up if Sakuya needs to take the train back to Aomori early."

"Then we'll see you later," her father said with a kind smile "Stay safe everyone."

And with that, the two of them left the house to the company of the three Selectors and the two cardfighters who were still present inside. Aichi looked ahead to the empty corridor before noticing Hitoe's expression had lowered a little since their departure from her home. Noticing that Sakuya appeared concerned for her friend's current state, he decided to get up from the table and head over towards her. Ruko who had previously been talking with Kai for a short while also noticed this and joined him as they came over towards their close friend.

"Is something wrong Hitoe?" she asked.

"O... Oh, sorry Ruko," Hitoe replied, almost startled in the midst of her brief stupor "I've... just been thinking about a lot, that's all."

Sakuya however was almost convinced otherwise that her friend was far from fine after having pondered on the revelation that would dawn upon them all, if they could first save her own world from the game that was going on beneath the noses of those who relied only on 'common sense'. Looking up to both Aichi and Ruko, an idea began to form on how she and the others could hopefully help Hitoe in taking the first step towards overcoming that 'pain' that would come to pass.

"Hey, Aichi!" she called, getting the Royal Paladin user's attention to her "I was wondering... if we talked about our experiences with Umr back here, could you please talk with Hitoe? Besides, I'd be interested in trying my luck in a practice battle against Kai in a bit."

"I don't mind," he replied as he got out Umr's card from his pocket and put in on the table beside Midoriko and Yuzuki's cards "Is everything alright?"

"I'll... tell you in a minute," Hitoe answered as she got up from the couch.

Aichi blinked for a moment, wondering what was so important for her to talk to him about, having missed out the conversation between the Selector and her friends in the midst of his own between himself, Ruko and Kai. Seeing that this was a subject that her friend had to discuss with him on their own, Ruko smiled as she placed one hand on her shoulder in reassurance, slightly lifting Hitoe's spirits.

"We're all here if you need us," she said "Just come back through at any time."

Feeling slightly better from her friend's words of encouragement, Hitoe smiled gently as she went over towards the stairs and walked over to the top with Aichi following just a little behind her, not wanting to freak her out or anything along those lines by complete accident. When the two were out of sight, Umr who had been watching them couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in slight confusion, if only for the sake of her own curiosity.

"Forgive my lack of knowledge in human conversation," she spoke "But can someone tell me why it may be easier for her to converse this 'matter' with only my master?"

"On the one hand, it's really just a feeling I have," Sakuya replied with a slight innocent smile before settling back into a more natural one "But at the same time, if she talks about this with him now before it's too late... she might learn something important from it."

And with that, she got up from the couch as the three LRIGs on the table began conversing with one another, sharing each of their respective stories and comparing their experiences and what each of them had learned from each other. Hitoe's closest friend then approached the table where Kai was still gazing down before he looked back up to her, noticing her approach to him.

"So, you feel like going at it for a bit?" she asked as she brought out the rest of her deck.

"Very well then," he replied in his usual tone.

* * *

At the very top of stairs and along a short walkway, Hitoe had eventually come around to the front of the door to her bedroom with Aichi stopping just behind her. On the one hand, she knew that given any sort of circumstances between the two of them, this would be considered 'weird' given it was just the two of them about to enter her usual place of solitude, solitude not counting any LRIGs she normally had with her whenever they went to sleep in the night. The Royal Paladin user could see her fidgeting for a moment, concerned for her current state of mind at this moment.

"Hitoe-san... are you sure about this?" he asked "We could just talk about it in the corridor..."

"I... It's fine..." she replied "I'll just leave the door open so... you know what I mean."

Unsure of how to exactly take her answer, Aichi did nod upon thinking about the reasoning for her idea to bring the conversation up to her room. It was clear that she didn't want whatever it was she wished to talk about eavesdropped in any way, but this way, it was also to assure Sakuya, Ruko and the rest of her friends that nothing strange would be happening and that they could come upstairs if they needed to see for themselves otherwise. Seeing that he was no longer hesitant to the idea, Hitoe gently opened the door and moved the chair beside her desk to it to ensure that it would stay open as he followed her inside shortly after. She then sat down on the covers of her bed and looked up to him, finally deciding to confront this issue once and for all.

"You know about how much I really thank you for what you've done... right?" she began.

"Yes," Aichi replied "I'm really happy about how far you've come since we first met. But, it looks like you're worried about something..."

Hitoe bit her lip, knowing that this was now going to be the hardest part of it all, now that she had unintentionally brought it up and realized the meaning of it when talking with Sakuya, Midoriko and Yuzuki a minute or so earlier. But at the same time, she knew that she had come this far in her self-confidence thanks to the cardfighter standing in front of her, concerned for her current state.

"Aichi-kun... you know that when this is over..." she spoke.

"You mean when we stop Mayu and rescue Takuto-kun?" he asked.

"Yeah..." the Selector replied "When that happens... everyone will be free... you'll get to go back home and..."

Pausing in her words, realizing how hard it was for her to finish her own sentence despite Sakuya's confirmation being enough to read even her own mind, she found herself beginning to shake.

"Hitoe-san...?" Aichi murmured in concern as he moved a little closer to her "What's wrong?"

His response however was met with tears falling down the Selector's cheeks and onto her skirt as she lifted her head to meet his worried gaze. Seeing that his friend was crying about whatever it was she was trying to tell him at this point, the Royal Paladin user tried to figure everything out from both her behaviour and her words just now. Then, recounting all the difficulties Hitoe had gone through in her life up this point, even when she managed to reunite with Sakuya and find new friends in Ruko, Yuzuki, Midoriko and Kai as well as himself, he suddenly realized the answer that she was trying to tell him. Gently, he sat down onto the edge of the bed beside her as he looked at her, trying to think of something he could say to her to calm her nerves down.

Before he could even do that however, he saw and felt the Selector remove her glasses before immediately wrapping her arms around him, crying into his shirt as she tried to get even more words out of her mouth.

"I know it's wrong..." she sobbed "I shouldn't be wishing for that... but the truth is... I don't want you to leave."

"Hitoe-san..." he breathed as she lifted her head up slightly.

"What should I do...?" she cried "I know it will happen... and yet..."

Unable to finish her sentence yet again, she returned back to her sobbing as it was, albeit in a much softer state compared to just a few moments earlier as she did her best to stomach the cold hard truth that she had realized. Aichi, now realizing that this was something that was now bothering her, couldn't help but sympathize with her in that regard. He too knew once they put an end to the catastrophe that was now plaguing all of their worlds with Ruko's being the mainly affected, he would have to go back home and continue his own life there as it was and even he knew deep down, saying goodbye to all of his new friends in this world would be one of the hardest things for him to do.

Thinking on how he could try and minimize the damage between both of their friendships this would no doubt cause as best he could, he looked down on Hitoe and gently wrapped his own arms around her as well.

"Hitoe-san..." he spoke, causing her to stop crying for a moment "To tell you the truth... when Kai-kun and I do go home, I'm going to miss everyone here as well. You, Ruko-san and everyone else."

Slowly breathing, Hitoe finally opened her eyes as she lifted her head up from where she had been previously crying into his shirt.

"But... that doesn't mean I will forget about all of the friendships and bonds we've all made since I came here," he continued "I know that even if there's chance we may not see each other again after we stop Mayu... I'll always treasure the moments we've all shared together and I want you to do the same."

"Treasuring... the moments...?" she breathed.

"It means we'll never forget all of the times we've shared together," Aichi answered "Just as my bond with Galliard, Neve, Ratie, Team Dreadnought and Team SIT Genius hasn't faded, even if we're all in different parts of my world... I'm definitely certainly our bonds between our worlds won't fade as well. Hitoe-san, I know this won't be easy for any of us when that day comes, but please... let's enjoy all of our time together, no matter how short it might be."

Although her expression had not changed by much, Hitoe was able to muster up the strength inside of her to at least show a smile in that she hopefully understood everything he was saying to her and that for the moment, she could stop her worries on the day that would come to them, but only if they stopped Mayu and the Star-vaders before they could destroy her world first.

"T... thank you, Aichi-kun," she spoke before leaning over his left shoulder and resting her head there "I... I know this may be selfish of me, but could we... stay like this for a little longer?"

"I understand, Hitoe-san," he replied, feeling happier that the ordeal she had gone through was now hopefully behind them, for the moment.

The Selector closed her eyes in response and remained in the position that the two of them were in, now feeling that it was important for her to treasure important moments that meant everything to her and that hopefully when that day would come, she would not be in despair as she believed. But instead, moving onto a brighter future with her friends in this world, thankful for everything that they would all have hopefully accomplished, together.

* * *

 **And there we go! Hopefully this should clear up one or two loose ends in the third arc of Stand Up, the LRIG! for those reading that as well and give a hint as to how things may go between Aichi and Hitoe in the upcoming arcs of the main crossover. Whilst admittedly, one-shots aren't my speciality, I hope this one will be to your liking. Please share all of your thoughts and criticisms in the reviews and I'll see you guys around!**


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